Cover versions which are better than the original

[havoc]

Possibly been done before, but prompted by a couple of songs today on the music channels:-

Johnny Cash - Hurt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
(I love NIN - one of my favourite bands - but JC's timbre and depth (and his history) really suit this track...goosebumps territory)

Disturbed - Land of Confusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6KXgjLqSTg
(OK, not difficult to beat Phil Collins! Video strangely appropriate given recent events in MidEast...)



Oh - one other which always comes to mind whenever this topic comes up...
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng3agUOYiI


What else do people rate as an improvement over the original song?

[havoc]

Some very cool answers, and some stuff I'd never have normally come across!

james_gt3rs said:

CommanderJameson said:

I reckon all of these add something to the original.
Anthrax - Got The Time
Metallica - Am I Evil

These are amongst their best songs.

Agreed. CJ - had no idea you were a card-carrying metalhead!

Re: Metallica - gotta be a couple off Garage Inc. too - Whiskey is the obvious call.

FnM - "Easy" live was f'n awesome - SO glad I got to see those guys reformed* at Download the other year...bought the ticket just for them, everyone else was a bonus.

Tainted Love - either metal cover works well. As for that Britney...





PS - I really DON'T like the MJB remix of 'One'...in fact, I can't think of a single U2 cover which has improved on the original.

* In Mike Patton's case, completely unreformed!

[havoc]

otherman said:

All the power that was missing in the original.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood (well, Trevor Horn really) - Born To Run

Trevor Horn was a genius. If you haven't got the Princes Trust concert DVD ("Slaves to the Rhythm"), then it's well worth digging out - esp. for the Frankie stuff - the replacement for Holly is (dare I say it) actually better!

[havoc]

Cheers for resurrecting the thread this week - prompted a re-review and some new listens:-

Placebo's "Running up that hill" was bloody awesome...love his voice!
Pendulum's "I'm not alone" was pretty full-on, so that's definitely a "yes".
NIN's version of "Dead Souls" is another winner...great stuff there!

Not sure on the Jamelia cover of Numb - it's OK, but the original is better, esp. live (well, back a few years when they were good live, anyway).


Becs just reminded me we haven't had this yet - Limp Bizkit's version of "Behind Blue Eyes" (The Who) - IMHO a difficult one to improve on, but I think they just edge the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MSqF_rQ6Mw

[havoc]

A cover of a Led Zep song shouldn't work, but that does...is there nothing Mr Reznor can't do???

[havoc]

Pretty sure this has been on here before, but it came up in my Spotify feed, and I forgot how well his voice and his delivery (and his history?) suit the song.

[havoc]

[havoc]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

I wouldn't say this was better than the original by any stretch of the imagination, but it's certainly different. And amazing skill.

(It was sent to me by a friend)




Also


(CAUTION: Very NSFW lyrics if you are not familiar with the song)

First one is very impressive, agreed. Totally different, and lacks the drama of the original, but as you say, hell of a skill.

Second...doesn't do it for me...there's very little emotion in her voice, very little animal passion (compare with the original, where the need and the hurt are pouring out of Trent's voice). That song is designed to be sung from the groin, and she seems like she could be singing about lollipops and rainbows. I've heard good remixes of Closer before (got the two-disc single somewhere), and that's not one.


Want a decent example of a woman covering a NIN track - try St Vincent:-

[havoc]

thegreenhell said:

No, of course this isn't 'better' than the original, how could it be, but it did put a big smile on my face.

[havoc]

Funk said:

Lee Ritenour's cover of Stereophonics' 'Maybe Tomorrow'

Decent voice, and a pretty cool alternative guitar arrangement.

But yet again, we've got a young woman with no 'soul' in her voice, no lived-through pain to express, trying to cover a song that really needs the voice to express the hurt and the sorrow of the lyrics. Kelly's voice does a far better job.


Conversely - agree with everything said about the Amazing Grace cover above...the screamy-bit at the end wasn't needed, but otherwise quite spine-tingling. A good voice is about more than just having good tone.

Edited by havoc on Saturday 29th April 07:54

[havoc]

Funk said:

havoc said:

Funk said:

Lee Ritenour's cover of Stereophonics' 'Maybe Tomorrow'

Decent voice, and a pretty cool alternative guitar arrangement.

But yet again, we've got a young woman with no 'soul' in her voice, no lived-through pain to express, trying to cover a song that really needs the voice to express the hurt and the sorrow of the lyrics. Kelly's voice does a far better job.

Just curious; did you actually look into who the singer is before forming that opinion of her? Also at 37 I'm sure probably delighted to be described as 'young'!

No, I didn't. But after reading up about her, I don't see the need to change anything. She won a Pop Idol competition as a teenager and took her musical career from there. Much like Leona Lewis, and I can't see her covering deep, emotional tracks. She's got a very nice voice but it's not got the timbre, the soul in it (ironic given her chosen genre) to do justice to a song like that. Same way you wouldn't want Leonard Cohen singing a bubblegum pop song.

My 2p anyway.

[havoc]

gazza285 said:

Possibly the best song in the Stones catalog, which also contains many other great songs, being unnecessarily murdered by some hard rock scamps. It’s a no from me.

Same here.

I know everyone's tastes vary, but that's a tough song to cover.

[havoc]

Brent Hoffmeister said:

Summer breeze by Type O’Negative. Forgot how good this cover was, seguing beautifully in to ‘set me on fire’. Loved this as a spotty teen.

Not to everyone’s tastes maybe, but the band had a refreshing self-awareness about them. Peter Steele made for a great frontman and his death was a great loss to the darker side of music.

VERY good shout.

Spotify keeps playing me Green Man at the moment, not that I mind in the slightest.

[havoc]

Gary Numan is a legend, and arguably inspired most of the first (& second?) generation of industrial bands.

...but I do have a soft spot for Fear Factory, and that definitely qualifies!

[havoc]

Ronstein said:

...which was the exact song that started the thread off.

[havoc]

bodhi said:

Not quite - for me it's still



A good lesson in how a song can be improved just by adding an "Ewwwwww"

It's Mike's voice, too...how many singers can 'out-Lionel' Lionel Richie*?



* While still being able to heavy-metal with the best of them!